According to the British government, men should not exceed 3
or 4 drinks daily and women should stick with 2 or 3. These limits, say Dr.
Nick Sheron of the Alcohol Health Alliance,
were devised by “civil servants” without good evidence and may be giving people
the wrong ideas about safe drinking habits, particularly that it is OK to drink
daily.

Dr. Sheron much prefers older drinking guidelines that were
based on a total weekly allowance of 21 units of alcohol per week for men and
14 units of alcohol per week for women (one oz of 40% alcohol equates to 1 British
unit, one standard can of beer is 1.5 British units.) These weekly guidelines said
Dr. Sheron, “were based on robust studies and were set at a level at which
alcohol harms outweigh any putative benefit."

Weekly alcohol guidelines were jettisoned in favor of the new
daily drinking recommendations after policy makers feared that people would simply “save up” their
weekly alcohol allowance for occasional binge drinking sessions – not what the government
hoped to induce.

It’s OK to Drink Every Day?

The original governmental “daily allotment” guidelines cautioned
imbibers to take drink-free days, a message that has since disappeared from the recommendations, presumably to enhance the simplicity of the message.

Dr. Sheron worries that the guidelines give people the green
light to drink daily, and Dr. Rachel Seabrook, of the Institute of Alcohol
Studies, echoes Sheron’s concerns, saying, "The
Royal Colleges' recommendation for two days of abstinence a week has quietly
disappeared. It was probably dropped to keep the message simple. But that is
not a good move."

The British government defends its guidelines, saying that
they are based on an “inter-departmental” review from 1995.

Risk of liver damage begins at a consumption level of about
30 units per week, which is roughly sanctioned under the current governmental recommendations
for men. The risk of certain cancers increases proportionally as alcohol
consumption increases.

Here are 2 facts about alcoholism: It tends to get worse over time (it is progressive) and most people experience a fairly similar progression of symptoms and consequences. Here is a timeline which charts the progressive experiences of alcoholism through the early, middle and late stages. If you have a drinking problem, find out where you fall on the timeline and consider what’s coming in the future. Read Article